Man jailed for sexually assaulting minor

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a July Criminal Court ruling, which sentenced a man to an increased prison term after convicting him of sexually assaulting a minor in December 2018.

The court declared the defendant guilty of sexually assaulting the 17-year-old girl over five times and handed him a seven-year prison term.

The court decided to add an additional 28 months in prison term because the victim was “a virgin”.

Court papers said the defendant and the victim met via social media almost two years before the complaint was filed by her family.

In December 2018, the victim went to the defendant’s house and they engaged in sexual activities on multiple occasions.

“The victim became pregnant and the family informed the authorities about the incident,” according to the court document.

The Criminal Court’s attorney general asked the higher court to uphold the sentence against the defendant "because the punishment he received was proper".

The defence lawyer, meanwhile, asked the court to acquit his client because "the court relied on weak evidence".

The defence lawyer argued that "the victim agreed to the sexual acts with the defendant and decided to marry him, therefore, they should acquit my client", court papers said.

The defence lawyer also argued that the victim’s family dropped charges against the defendant, but he still did not get a reduction in penalty.

However, the higher court ruled that the Criminal Court proceedings were accurate and that the defendant was given the appropriate punishment.

It was proven to the court that the defendant willingly confessed to engaging in sexual activities with the minor and therefore deserves the punishment he had received, the higher court ruled.

The SSC added that even if the victim "engaged in sexual activities willingly, under the Jordanian Penal Code she is considered a minor", according to court documents.

The Court of Cassation judges were Mohammad Ibrahim, Bassem Mubeidin, Hammad Ghzawi, Nayef Samarat and Saeed Mugheid.